Zonyon
The Kingdom of Zonyon (Honji: 長圓王國; Yale: Zonyon Ongok) is an island nation in East Asia. History The geographical location of Zonyon has been one of the dominant factors in its turbulent history. Surrounded by the menacing giants of China, Korea and Japan, the island became the target of each conquering faction in turn. Most historians agree that the Zonyonese originated from China. In 219 BC, the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang, was nearly killed by a blind musician wielding a lead zither. As a result, the emperor became paranoid of death, and later that year supervised teams of virgin youth were sent eastwards to find the elixir of life on a legendary Isle of Penglai. One of these boatloads of youth allegedly landed in Zonyon, marking the beginning of human inhabitance on the island. This theory is supported by many historical texts found in Zonyon, China and elsewhere, but is complicated by the lack of archaeological evidence. In 372, Zonyon was annexed by the Korean kingdom of Baekje. Following Baekje’s fall in 660, Zonyon was made a tributary to China’s Tang Dynasty. The island would remain under Chinese rule for the next 7 centuries. In 1402, the Jianwen Emperor fled to Zonyon after a coup d’état led by Zhu Di razed the Imperial Palace in Nanjing. Largely ignored by the Ming government, Jianwen proclaimed an independent Zonyon under the Great Phoenix Dynasty, named after his favorite concubine. The Manchu Qing Dynasty retook Zonyon without much of a struggle in 1625. The island was allowed a relative amount of autonomy until 1644, when a tribute system identical to that of earlier Chinese rule was imposed upon the Zonyonese population. Zonyonese men were also forced to submit to the Queue Order, which dictated that they must wear their hair in the traditional Manchu queue hairstyle. Following the First Sino-Japanese War, Zonyon was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Maguan. The island was subject to Japanese rule until the end of the Second World War. Politics The politics of Zonyon take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the King of Zonyon is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Zonyon is the head of government. Zonyon’s legislature is the National Assembly, a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 seats, elected by popular vote every four years. Universal suffrage by secret ballot is granted for adults over 20 years of age. The two dominant political parties are the Conservative Nationalist Party (CNP) and the Liberal Progressive Party (LPP). Foreign relations and military Although Zonyon maintains diplomatic relations with 166 countries, it does not assert a diplomatic mission in most of those countries. Due to obvious geographical factors, the foreign relations of Zonyon are dictated by relations with China, Japan, and to lesser extents, North and South Korea. The Zonyonese military is composed of the Zonyon Ground Defence Force (ZGDF), the Zonyon Maritime Defence Force (ZMDF), and the Zonyon Air Defence Force (ZADF). Geography Zonyon is a volcanic archipelago comprised of over 50 islands, bordering the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. The main island constitutes 92% of the land mass and is characterized by Dream Cloud Mountain (1,050 m), the highest point of Zonyon. Zonyon's climate is marine and subtropical with four distinctive seasons. Rainfall is heavier in summer than in winter, while cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year. Economy Following two decades of expeditious growth rates, Zonyon encountered a severe economic decline during the East Asian financial crisis of 1997. The economy remained stagnant until 2003, when it began to show promising signs of recovery, eventually accomplishing a GDP (real) growth rate of 8.0% by the end of 2004. Growth reached 8.5% in 2005, before decreasing to 7.6% in 2006, then 6.9% in 2007. Growth hit a record low of 4.4% in 2008 following the Global Financial Crisis, but has slowly recovered in following years. Following Ju Tyonki 's inauguration as Prime Minister in 2010, a series of reforms on the banking system were made, stressing decreased reliance on foreign reserves. Demographics Zonyon's 2007 Census enumerated 6,750,474, an increase of 1.5% since 2002. Approximately two-thirds of the population live in urban areas. 40.8% of Zonyon's population practice Mingyondo, a syncretic folk religion encompassing Buddhism, Eastern philosophy, animism, shamanism, and ancestor veneration. 5.7% are Christian, while 1.2% subscribe to other religions. However, the majority of Zonyonese (52.4%) are irreligious. Culture Zonyonese culture derived chiefly from Chinese roots, but was also historically influenced by Korean and Japanese cultures. Traditional Zonyonese arts include visual arts (calligraphy, ceramics, flower arranging, wash painting), performing arts (acrobatics, cross-talk, zontun gakki), crafts (cloisonné, decorative knots, lacquerware, paper cutting, paper folding), literature (poetry), and culinary arts (hand-pulled noodles, thousand-year egg). Sport and recreation Transportation Category: Nearly Real World Category:Zonyon